Skull, remains of saree found from site near Nethravati river as Dharmasthala probe gathers pace

Remains were found Monday near site number 11, but not while excavating, says a police officer. It is the second such recovery in the ongoing SIT probe.

Security personnel with the whistleblower (covered in black) at Dharmasthala in karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district on Monday | PTI

Bengaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the Dharmasthala ‘mass burial’ case, has retrieved a human skull from near an excavation site, ThePrint has learnt.

“There was a skull found and a saree around it. These remains were found near the excavation site, not while excavating,” a police officer told ThePrint.

The findings on Monday were from site number 11, beside the Nethravathi river. This was the second such recovery after skeletal remains were found at site number 6 on day three of the excavation.

The officer said that the complainant in the case has asked for sites surrounding the originally identified excavation points to be dug up.

On 4 July, the Dakshina Kannada police lodged an FIR based on the statement of the complainant, a former sanitation worker, that he was coerced by people “connected to the Dharmasthala temple administration and other staff members” into burying or disposing of bodies.

Though the complainant has identified 13 sites, he has been trying to divert the authorities from these originally identified sites.

“The SIT should first excavate the 13 sites and then move to other locations,” the officer said.

The skeletal remains will help determine the age and gender of a person but not the cause of death unless there is some visible damage, officers say.

There are apprehensions that every single skeleton recovered will be projected as those of rape and murder victims.

According to the police, the complainant was tasked to bury the dead and that he should focus on showing locations only of those who he suspected were murdered, raped and tortured.

Over the years, there have been many cases of suicide in these parts, according to townsfolk, activists and even government records. One explanation is that this is a religious abode and place of reckoning.

But victims of families and other activists contend why bodies do not wash up in other neighbouring pilgrimage sites like Subramya and Kollur Mookambika.

(Edited by Tony Rai)